The Naspers office in Cape Town, South Africa.
MIH Internet Africa (MIHIA), a subsidiary of Naspers, has confirmed it is restructuring its operations to focus on its e-tail businesses such as Kalahari, which means e-commerce sites SACamera, 5rooms, Kinderelo, Style 36 and 5Ounces will close.
HumanIPO reported earlier this week the sites has been taken down as Naspers looked to restructure, with the company now focused on the aggressive expansion of Kalahari.
“Kalahari had a very strong Christmas and has just introduced an advanced platform successfully,” said Meloy Horn, head of investor relations at Naspers. “The restructuring will allow the group to dedicate more resources to this exciting area of growth, building out stronger platforms and offering better services.
“Some small businesses which are no longer core, namely Style36, 5Rooms, Kinderelo, SA Camera and 5Ounces, will be closed down, after consultation with staff and reviewing all options. This decision is based purely on a shift in strategy and was not performance related.”
Horn said the process is limited to the MIHIA group and does not affect other Naspers subsidiaries with e-commerce investments in Africa, such as Media24.
“Media24 will continue to leverage its magazine titles to drive e-commerce activity, especially through fast-growing fashion vertical Spree, and is planning to expand substantially in this area,” she said.
E-commerce looks to have become even more central to Naspers’ future strategy, following the decision to replace chief executive officer (CEO) Koos Bekker, who is stepping down in April after 17 years leading the company, with the company’s head of e-commerce, Bob van Dijk.
